Process of producing edible fat



Patented May 27, i924.

GEORGE GRINDROD, F OCONOMQWOC, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNGE T0 CNATION. MILKPRODUCTS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A. CORPOTION OF DELAWARE;

raocnss or rzaon'ocme EDIBLE rfa'r.

No Drawing. Original application filed May 12,1919, Seriailio. 296,691.Divided'and this application filed December 30. 1919. Serial No.38,404=.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE GRINDRQD, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Oconomowoc, in the county of Waukesha 5 and State ofWisconsin, have invented a new and useful Process of Producing EdibleFat, of which the following is a specification.

The invention has for its object to produce a new food product in thenature of a butter substitute which will be edible, free from toxicconstituents and from rancidityproducing constituents, a food productwhich will remain stable, so. that it may be used, for householdpurposes to the same extent as ordinary butter. The invention hasfurther for its object to provide an improved process of making buttersubstitutes which will be hereinafter fully described.

In the carrying out of my improved process which I will nowdescribe byway of illustration, I proceed as follows:

I secure the desired quantity of fresh whole milk. Instead of freshwhole milk I contemplate also usin' a suitable quantityof fresh skimmilk, ordinary skim milk provided it is fresh skim milk or that comingfrom a separator). I contemplate also, as an alternative, the use offresh buttermilk such as comes from the churn in the churning of freshbutter. Having. provided the necessary quantity of milk, by which I meaneither fresh whole milk or fresh skim,

milk or fresh separated milk or fresh buttermilk, I emulsify thequantity of milk with-an edible vegetable fat, preferab-l the onehereinbefore described, so as to ;'ring about a temporary emulsion ofthe milk constituents and the vegetable fat. Prior to emulsifying thevegetable fat with the milk constituents, I cause the milk to be heatedto about 0., and also bring about the heating of the fat to about thesame temperature, this vegetable fat being in liquid state While it isbeing added to the milk constituents. I provide initial mixture in onepreferred form' by means of an aspirator so that the milk constituentsand vegetable fat are sucked together through the aspirator and therebybring about an intimate intermixing of the milk constituents and thevegetable fat. However, other forms of intermiz'ring milk constituentsand vegetable fat may be employed. This initial mixture is thenhomogenized by means of a homogenizing machine, 'the initial mixture thepurpose of partially stabilizing it, and

emulsion will be' so that the temporar maintained as an emu sion, thatis, without the fat being separated from the milk constituents for areasonable length of time, at least long enough to carry out the furthersteps of the process. The temporary and artially stabilized emulsionthus obtained is then subjected to either one oftwo intermixing methodsmentioned.

Before it is subjected to either one of these processes, it is subjectedto a cooling action, thereby passing it over cooling coils,

or in any other suitable manner, so as to obtain a reasonably rapidcooling other than mere standing, as mere standing mi ht bring aboutacid and that would be is advantageous. This cooled and partiallystabilized emulsion is then subjected to either one of two processes. Inthe one method it is ripened in the manner wellknown to the butter art,that is, by the addition of a lactic acid starter. This ripenedtemporary emulsion, partially stabilized,fis then subjected to achurning action for the purpose of churning out the-fat into the buttersubstitute. The other method is to use the temporary emulsion partiallystabilized in its fresh condition, that is, not .to

'subject it to any ripening, but to immediately subject it to thechurning action, in order to churn out the butter and produce a buttersubstitute or what I will term a fresh butter substitute in a mannersimilar to the production of a fresh unripened butter.

In 3 the methods I have heretofore described I use the followingproportions of milk constituents and vegetable fat: Between the limitsof 20% and 40% of vegetable fat in the temporary emulsion, and the endproduct having from 80%, to 90% fat after churning.

In another embodiment of my process I proceed by first adding to themilk of the kinds described, and work with such percentage of vegetablefat, preferably 3% to 5%, that the temporary emulsion will have aboutthe composition of average fresh cows milk. 1 then subject this milk toa separator action, preferably of a centrifugal type and separate thecream from the milk. This cream is then either ripened orchurned freshinto the butter substitute containing approximately vegetable tat. lnboth forms of my process T bring about a temporary emulsion byhomogenization and then partially stabilize it by subjecting theemulsion to a temperature of about F, and, as stated, either ripen it ornot, and then churn the fat into a butter substitute.

T have described above the use of a vegetable fat and l have obtainedvery satisfactory results with edible cocoanut lat tree from free fattyacids, that is, to the extent of 9.2 of 1% or 0.25 of 1%. Corn oil, palmoil, and peanut oil may also be used and emulsilied andpartiallystabilized'in the manner described and thensubjected to the churningmethods described.

As another embodiment of my invention, I combine the above-mentionedmilk, either fresh milk or skim milk or buttermilk of the kindsdescribed with an edible vegetable fat free from aldehydes, ketones andhydroxy fats and other rancidity-producing substances, which fat isnon-toxic and stable, and is not subjected to spontaneous decomposition.This tat does not contain toxic constituents but has oleic glyceridesunhydrogenated. llt has a melting point of less than 37.5" It is.distinct from vegetable tats used heretofore in the manui am ture ofbutter substitutes in that it is stabilized against the production ofrancidity in the finished product. It is distinct from vegetable fatsheretofore used in the preparation of butter substitutes in that it ismore stable against rancidity than these fats heretotore used and iseven more stable than butter lat. It is more stable than butter tatunder any given conditions such as temperature, exposure to light,presence of moisture, exposure to air and presence of bacterial enzymes.It is also entirely free from rancidity, whether due to plant compoundsor to fat decompositionproducts. It is distinct from hydrogenated tatsheretofore manufactured and used in butter substitutes in that itcontains most of the oleic glyceride of the original vegetable fat inuntransformed condition.

rancidity-producing constituents and tree from toxic substance Thisfinished product is distinct from butter substitute heretotore producedin that it has no flavor due to the substituted vegetable lt no toxicsubstances as ordinarily carried win. vegetable fats and which decreasethe assimilability of the product. lt has no ra cidity as has beencommon with butter sub tutes heretofore produced from veget" is fats.llt has no odor of the vegetable llt contains no fat compounds or othercompounds capable of decomposing on contact with the milk and Water intoliayors, odors or rancidity under ordinary storage shipping conditions.This last is one of the chief distinguishing features between productand butter lat substitutes madewith vegetable tats heretofore. Thisprodnot is distinct from butter substitutes made heretofore in that itis more stable and keeps under given storage conditions longer thanwhole milk butter.

Tn the emulsilication processes I have de scribed, as in themanipulation of the processes which also include the stabilizing andcooling, 1 so manipulate the constituents that the globules of the milkand the glob ules of the vegetable tat remain of a size equivalent tothat in butter manufactured from whole co ws milk.

Herctofore in the manufacture of butter substitutes the resultingproduct has not had the same consistency or body as butter manufacturedfrom cows milk. This has been due to the fact that the emulsificationprocesses used did not reduce the fat globular size as small as the fatglobules ex:- isting in cows milk, but emulsified the fat by various.churning operations which leave the fat in globules several times thesize of those existing in normal cows milk. T is has caused the productsso produced to be of a consistency more like lard or grease and to failto have the peculiar hard body and consistency of butter made from cowsmilk. In my improved products l have a fat globular structure which ismuch finer'than that existing in substitute butters heretolore produced.The butter substitutes heretofore produced by processes leaving theglobules of fat and milk constituents large than cows milk butter havecaused tn products to be less palatable and undesir able and to anextent less acceptable t llllll they would have been had they had thesame consistency as butter. The combination or milk constituents'with myimproved fat bring about a specially improved product.

Reference is herewith made to my pending application Serial No. 296,691.filed May 12, 1919, or which this is a divisioi .al application.

ln this application, it have disclosed process for removing the s toxicsubstance from the substituted fat. Asone example of this process whichmay beemployed in connection with my present invention, I provide anordinary standard autoclave equipped with a circulating injector. I1dible cocoanut fat, purified by standard methods known to the art andsubstantially neutralized to about two tenths per cent (0.2%) free fattyacids, is placed within the autoclave, the cocoanut fat being firstmelted so that it enters the autoclave in liquid condition. Instead ofusing the neutralized edible cocoanut fat just referred to, it ispossible to utilize a cheaper grade of edible cocoanut fat which has notbeen neutralized to the same extent as heretofore stated. Afterintroduction of the fat into the autoclave it is treated therein for aperiod from two to three hours and is subjected to hydrogenation under apressure of about 250 to about 600 pounds at a temperature under 120 C.Various alternative methods may be used in this step of the process as,for

instance, the pressure may be constant at 250 pounds and the temperaturemay be varied and advanced from C. to a maximum of 120 C. In othercases, the pressure may be maintained at 600 lbs. and the tem-' peraturemaintained constant at from 70 to 80 C. v

The purpose of utilizing the high pressure is to carry out the processwithin a practical time limit, it belngv a well-established law ofhydrogenation that the rate of action of whatever hydrogenation takesplac varies as the pressure or density of the hydrogen. The function ofthe pressure at which the process is carried out is to provide a meansof differentiating between the incomplete vegetable fats, ketones andaldehydes and the normal but unsaturated vegetable fats. In the artofhydrogenation as heretofore employed it has been well known that therate of hydrogenation of such normal unsaturated fats as oleic glycerideis very slow at temperatures below 185 (3., and is hardly appreciable atmuch lower temperatures. Temperatures as low as 120 have never beenemployed in the art for the purpose of hydrogenating normal unsaturatedfats, but I have found that aldehydes and other rancidity andodor-producing compounds, as carried with nearly all vegetable fats, arereadily decomposed by hydrogen at very low temperatures, that is,between 70 C. and 120 C. I have also found that the valuable fatcompounds of butter are incapable of withstanding temperatures as highas those used in the ordinary hydrogenation processes. The process whichI employ is, therefore, designed to protect from destruction orhydrogenation, those more delicate compounds which occur both in butterand in the vegetable fat to be treated. I have found that the use of alow temperature, such as a temperature below the destruction orhydrogenation point of such fat compounds will result in the destructionof the vegetable toxins and partially-formed vegetable fats withoutdestruction or transformation of the more delicate butterlike compoundsor normal unsaturated fats which, it is desired. to leave largelyunaffected. I have also found that the vegetable aldehydes, ketones andother rancidity-producing compounds are completelyand instantlydestroyed at 7 0 0., the period of time required for this reaction hasbeen found to be only a few seconds. lVhile the rancidity-producingcompounds, aldehydes and ketones are destroyed very quickly at 70 C. thetransformation of the other 'hydr'oxy fats does not take place soquickly and it is necessary to extend the time of hydrogenation somewhatin order to stabilize the fat against {the reformation of ranciditycompounds. In practice, it is frequently more convenient to useatemperature somewhat higher than 7 0 C. since reactions are thus causedto take lace more quickly. At'a low temperature, 0 C. for

instance, the differentiation between the action of the'hydrogen' on thealdehydes and on the fats is very mar ed. If a portion of cocoanut oilis heated to 120 C. for a few minutes, it will develop aldehydes verydistinctly and give a plain color reaction for aldehydes. If this oil isthen cooled to 70 and a portion of nickel catalyst freshlyv prepared andso containing a little absorbed hydrogen is stirred into it, thealdehydes will be'completely and instantly decomposed and'the oil willgive no further test for them. The oil will also have lost its rancidodor. But analysis of the oil before and after its insertion shows nochange whatever in the oleic constituents. Also the incomplete orhydroxy fats are not found to be materially reduced so that the oil willregenerate the various rancid compounds and reform aldehydes if againheated to 120 C. Then if this same oil is subjected to hydrogenationwith a catalyst for a period of one hour under 300 pounds pressure at 900., it will be found to be deodorized and further, will be found to bestable against heat so that again heating it to 120 C. will notregenerate aldehydes unless the heating be prolonged to, say, two hours.But this oil is free from hydroxy fats which are known to be one of thecompounds capable of reproducing rancidity, and at the same time, theoelicv glyceride is found unchanged to any measurable extent. Thus it isapparent that the selective action of the hydrogen is a positive fact.For the removal of the hydroxy fats so that rancidity will not bereproduced, appreciable time has been found necessary, but in so far asit is possible to determine experimentally, the destruction cule.

of the hydroxy fats on rancidlity-causing compounds is complete beforethe hydrogenation oi the normal unsaturated tats has proceeded to ameasurable extent. L When the temperature is kept below 120 C1,, thehydrogenation is continuecl until the incomplete it'ats are found to befully transformed, which is determined practically by measuring the rateof decomposition of the fat at suitable temperatures.

When the lat is tounol to he stable against heat, the incompleteltats'are known to be destroyed or transformed. By the expressionincomplete tats is meant, fats such as hydroxy fats or fats which arenot completely formed into normal tats. In these fats, for instance,liyclroxy raclical exists in place of a fatty acicl raclical and thusthe molecule is completely formecl into a complete molel/Vhen the fat isthus touncl to be stable against heat, the transformation of the normalunsaturateol "fat is not appreciable and the change in melting pointanol iocline number is small and may be attributecl to the hydrogenationof the non-fat compounols or the incomplete or hyrlroay fats. The changein iodine value and in melting point which is found to occur is duechiefly to the transformation of the non-fat vegetable compounds and theincomplete or hydroxy fats. fit the temperature employed, transformationof normal or unsaturated fats is very slight and generally notappreciable and these "Eats are substantially unhytlrogenatetl. By thusselectively liyclrogenating the constituent elements of the vegetablefat the product becomes tree from vegetable toxins and rancidity-pro-(lacing compounds and stabilizes against reformation of them.

Further, by reason of this selective hyclrogenation a fat is obtaineolWhich has a melting point below 3% (O. and that usually obtained has amelting point of approximately 35 or about the melting point of From theforegoing description the nature of present invention antl manner inwhich the same may be successfully practicecl Will he clearly and fullyunderstoocl. lit is to he understood that the procis susceptible to somevariations. I therefore reserve the privilege of resorting all suchlegitimate changes in practice as may he iairly comprehended Within thespirit anti scope of the invention and the appended claims.

vin milk constituents With a vegetable 'rily emulsifying the same, thenm ae an;-

l claim: The process of making a butter stitute which consistsin'temporarily emulsi- 3Q lying milk constituents With'a vegetableahilizing the emulsion ie emulsion. re process making butter snhst' chconsists in temporarily enii isi stabilizing the emulsion by subjectingit L a temperature of about M20" R, cooling emulsion and then churningthe emulsion 3. The process of making a butter suh tute which consistsinmixing a vegetable tat With milk constituents in the proportion fat inaverage covvs milk, then temper emulsi the same, then partially s lizingthe same then separating the creann 5 and churning the cream.

a. e process of making a butter substitute which consists mixing avegetable with mill: consti uents in the proportion cl fat in averagecow s milk, then is a so 1}37 stabilizing the same by subjecting thtsion to r emperature of also 149 h. separa lg the cream, churning cream.

5.. The process of making a butter sub itute which consists inincorporating cocoanut oil free oi toxic constituents co milk par iallstabilizing tne mixturheating the same to approa'nately and thenchurning the partially stahii mixture.

6. The process of producing an en of millt a substituted vegeta whichconsists in intimately mixing the 1 and at comparatively low temper andhomogenizing the mixture at t perature, anti then advancing the t tureoi the homogenized mixture un emulsified constituents thereof arepartiaiy stabilized I i The process of making a hut stitute whichconsists in temporaril sifying avegetahle oil substantially fr e o toxicconstituents with cows mill: and maintaining the emulsifieol condition oconstituents suhfec'ting the mixture t action l the constituents tnaecl, then chin. niizecl mixture.

hat l claim the foregoing as nave signed my name

